How much money do you need to invest to get a green card through the EB-5 Program?
In order to get a U.S. green card through the EB-5 Program a foreign national must invest at least $900,000 in a qualified project located in a targeted employment are or $1.8 million in a non-targeted employment area project. A targeted employment area is an area designated by the Department of Homeland Security as either a high unemployment are or rural area.
A prospective EB-5 investor will fill out an I-526 Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor to get started. This form is where a prospective EB-5 investor discloses the funds they have selected to invest or will invest in a qualified EB-5 project along with documentation proving that they qualify.
The funds for the investment can come from a variety of sources. For instance, any of the following could potentially be used for an EB-5 investment: salary earnings, investments, sale of a business, sale of real estate, loans, retirement funds, inheritance, gifts, or tangible assets. Additionally, an investor could use any combination of sources. They do not all have to come from one source. The important part is that the funds come from lawful sources and that the investor can provide evidence of their lawful origin.
Working with an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney may be helpful for investors who have access to multiple sources of funds. Immigration attorneys can help investors strategize which funds to use for their EB-5 investment as the sources of one source may be less complex to provide documentation for than another and any complexity may slow down their individual case processing time.